It is common to carry accessories such as toolboxes and other containers, weights for ballast, and the like on vehicle load bed areas such as truck boxes, van beds, car trunks, etc. These accessories are preferably secured to prevent shifting during travel, and remain in the vehicle for extended periods of time in a semi-permanent fashion. Shifting can damage the article, other contents in the box, or the vehicle itself.
Similarly the purpose of the load bed is to carry a wide array of cargo, and the more permanent accessories such as ballast, toolboxes, and the like often interfere with loading the cargo.
Several prior art patents have been directed to the problem of providing a ballast system for truck boxes that does not shift during travel, and provides minimal interference with loading cargo. See for instance U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,038 to Grover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,356 to Cook, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,227 to Anderson.
These ballast systems provide a relatively thin layer of weights or ballast elements over substantially the whole floor of the truck box, leaving a relatively unhindered load surface. The volume capacity of the truck box is thus only minimally affected. Canadian Patent No. 2,178,224 to Karrer provides a cargo anchoring system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,679 to Bourgault et al. discloses a system for securing ballast and/or accessories such as toolboxes, tanks, and the like in a truck box. The system has anchor beams fastened to the cargo area and an accessory or ballast member has lips that slide under corresponding lips on the anchor members. The accessory or ballast member can be removed by sliding them rearward out of the truck box; however debris can make it difficult to slide the parts as required.